


In the Mirror

by BeneaththeHalo



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Arthur gone off the rails, BBC Merlin Fest, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends With Benefits, M/M, snobby rich kid Arthur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-05-07
Packaged: 2018-01-23 22:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1580996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeneaththeHalo/pseuds/BeneaththeHalo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur was the golden child when he was younger- perfect grades, best behaviour, kindest boy you could ever meet and everybody's best friend. But now, Arthur has changed. He's not the person he once was. He rebels against his father, he sneaks out at night, and he's gotten into countless fights at school. So many, in fact, that he was kicked out of his private school and forced to attend public school. Now 'slumming it' with people Pendragons are not meant to mix with, Arthur is made to work with Merlin, someone who makes his dislike of Arthur very clear. And even though Arthur makes it clear he doesn't like Merlin, there's just something about him. Something that keeps drawing Arthur back, and something that may even help him to live his life again.<br/>Posted as part of the BBC Merlin Fest on Tumblr, for Week 2, Day 5- Alternate Universe.<br/>Go Team Arthur!</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Mirror

If you had asked Uther Pendragon 10 years ago which one of his children would cause him the most trouble, he definitely would not have said Arthur. Arthur had been as close to the perfect child as possible when he was younger. He did everything he was asked to do, he had excellent grades, he very rarely got in trouble at school (except maybe once or twice for talking), he was kind to everyone and made friends easily, and he looked up to his father. It was Morgana that was the little terror, never doing what she was told and taking every opportunity to cross her father.

When they got older, though, everything had changed. Morgana had stopped trying to defy Uther, and had stopped being a little menace in school once she'd decided what she wanted to do with her life. Arthur was the exact opposite. Not long after Uther had started trying to train Arthur up to join the family business, Arthur had started to rebel. He'd started going against everything Uther had said to him and asked him to do, he snuck out at night and didn't come home to the early hours of the morning, he smoked and he drank, and he stopped trying in school while getting sent to the principal's office far more often than not. He'd even died his golden blond hair black, something that had baffled everyone that knew him because it looked positively ghastly, but Arthur had refused to wash it out.

It was when the fights at school had started that things had gotten _really_ bad. Arthur had been that one student at school that everyone got along with and everyone seemed to love, including his teachers. He’d always had people wanting to hang out with him at lunch, people wanting to work with him on group projects, and he was always the first person chosen in sports teams (although that could have had more to do with his talent than anything else). Nobody could really pinpoint what had changed, whether it was the other students or whether it was Arthur himself, but his relationship with them had become incredibly antagonistic. They had arguments in and out of class, and it had gotten to the point where teachers had to _force_ other students to have Arthur in their groups, especially since Arthur refused to do any work.

But then the fights had gotten physical. The first time Arthur had come home with a bloody nose, a black eye, cuts on his hands and bruises all over his body, Uther had marched up to the school and demanded to know who had hurt his precious son. When he’d found out that it had been Arthur who had started the fight over seemingly nothing, he had been _furious_. Arthur had been grounded for a month, had his mobile phone and laptop taken away, and was forced to be chaperoned everywhere by Morgana. It hadn’t made a difference, though. The fights had continued, to the point where Arthur was kept isolated from the other students both in and out of class. He was forced to buy an entirely new uniform after destroying the other one too, much to Uther’s annoyance. Those private school uniforms weren’t cheap.

When Arthur received his first suspension, everyone hoped that that would be the end of the fights. But if anything, it just made everything worse. He'd just come back to school _angrier_ and cause even more problems. No one wanted to even go near him at school anymore, with the exception of Morgana and the only friend he had left, Leon.

Eventually, it had all become too much. The principal had been very reluctant to do it, considering how much money Uther Pendragon donated to the school, but eventually he'd had no choice except to expel Arthur. They’d tried everything to get Arthur back on track, even enforcing counselling sessions, but Arthur had never even shown up to them. Uther had tried, as well, but Arthur was even more defiant towards him than he was towards his teachers and school. Only Morgana and Leon could get through to him, but he wouldn’t even tell them why he’d changed as much as he had. Uther had tried to convince the school to keep Arthur, even offering them significant amounts of money, but it was no use. The school couldn’t handle Arthur anymore, and he had to leave.

Uther tried homeschooling with Arthur at first. It worked, for a time- he showed up and seemingly paid attention, and the fighting stopped (although that could’ve been more because he was on his own and deprived of anyone his age than anything else). After a while, though, Arthur started locking himself in his room and refusing to come out, and then he’d disappeared from the house and sent everyone who worked at the house on a frantic search across town trying to find him. (It had been Morgana who had found him, though. She’d known exactly where to look, unlike anybody else.)

Despite Arthur’s problems, and the apparent lack of a reason for them, Uther still didn’t want to pull him out of school. He couldn’t go back to private school, as his horrible record before he’d been kicked out of his last one, plus the expulsion himself, had ensured that no school would take him. And clearly homeschooling wouldn’t work, as Arthur knew exactly how to sneak out of the house so that no one would realise until it was too late. So unfortunately for Arthur, there was no choice but to send him to private school.

“Father, _no_!” Arthur protested, when he first heard the news. “There is _no_ way I’m going there. You can’t make me.”

“I can, and I _will_ , Arthur,” said Uther. “I’ve had enough. You used to be so good, Arthur, and now I’m worried you’re going to end up in juvenile detention.”

“I’m not a _criminal_ , father,” Arthur scoffed.

“You’re pretty close to it, and I am not having any child of mine go down that path. Maybe going to this school, where no one is going to favour you and treat you better than you deserve just because you’re a Pendragon, will be what you need to get back on the right path."

Arthur just scoffed. “What makes you think that the path that _you_ want me on is the right one?” he challenged. He held his father’s furious gaze for a moment, before looking away to examine his fingernails. There was a bit of dye caught behind them from the last time Arthur had to re dye his hair dark, and he set to work trying to pick it out.

Or he tried, at least, because before he could, he found his line of sight filled by the very angry face of his father. Arthur hadn’t seen Uther this mad since the day Arthur had been expelled, and he almost flinched, his natural instinct to shy away from the man he was sure would hurt him. “I am your _father_ ,” Uther spat. “I only want what is _best_ for you. And the best thing for you is to change you from this _person_ you’ve become back into the boy you used to be.”

“He’s not in there anymore, father,” said Arthur, looking up at Uther again. “And I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I’m not going to that school.”

“You _are_ going there, if I have to drag you myself,” Uther told him. “In fact, I’ll take you there your first day. Tomorrow.”

Arthur knew now he was fighting a losing battle. His _father_ , the man who hardly ever showed an interest in his children’s lives, was actually going to take him to his first day of public school personally? He’d have to find a way to sneak off school grounds once he was there, then. “You’re not going to be able to take me _every day_ ,” he pointed out, almost in hope.

“I know. Which is why Morgana will take you,” said Uther. “And as her school lets out fifteen minutes earlier than yours, she will also be there to pick you up every day.”

Arthur sighed. That was it. He was done for, now. While he knew Morgana and their father did not get along, he knew there was no way she was going to allow him to just not attend school. “But I can’t go to school with all of… all of _them_ , father! I’m a _Pendragon_ \- I’m not meant to mix with the likes of them!”

“It’s your own fault you have to attend this school in the first place,” Uther reminded him, almost coldly. “If you hadn’t turned into so much of a delinquent and a rebel, you would never have been expelled from private school in the first place, and I wouldn’t have to send you _there_. And no child of mine will be a high school dropout. Now get some sleep, you start tomorrow.” Before Arthur could say anything else, Uther turned and marched out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Arthur sat on his bed in stunned silence for several minutes. His father was seriously going to send him to public school, where he have to mix with people whose whole families could be bought out by the Pendragons easily. People that Arthur was _not_ meant to mix with- his father of all people knew _that_. Arthur got to his feet, intending to have another go at convincing his father not to send him to public school (anything could be better than _that_ ) but when he tried the door, he found that he was unable to open it. He tried it several times, rattling it as aggressively as he could, but it was no use. It seemed that his father had locked him in. He’d actually _locked_ Arthur in his own bedroom. He must’ve known that Arthur would try again, or even that Arthur would try and run away during the night. Right now, Arthur was wishing that was an option, but ever since his last escape his father had bolted the window shut. It seemed Arthur’s only option was to sleep, and wait, and pray that public school didn’t rub off on him.

***

When Arthur arrived at school the next morning, dressed in casual attire (or as casual as a Pendragon could get) he was acutely aware of all the other students staring at him. Word must’ve travelled through the school about who he was and what he was doing there. As Arthur was escorted through the school by his father, he became acutely aware that while all the students were staring at him, none of them were making any attempt to approach him or to talk to him. They were _scared_ of him, Arthur realised. They’d heard what he had done, all the fights he’d gotten into at his old school and how nobody had been able to handle him, and they were _scared of him_. They were scared of who he was and what he could do.

 _Good. Let them be scared_ , Arthur thought to himself. _They should be. I’m a Pendragon. I’m worth more now than they ever will_. Arthur walked past everyone, holding his head high and proud, and refusing to make eye contact.

At the same time, though, Arthur couldn’t help but notice something else in the faces of everyone he walked past, and it wasn’t just fear. It was _hatred_. Pure hatred. Arthur could kind of see why; his family’s treatment and opinions of those beneath them weren’t exactly a closely guarded secret, and they’d probably figured out by now that Arthur shared his father’s views.

 _It’s not like they don’t deserve it, though_ , Arthur assured himself. He didn’t care if they hated him- he wasn’t there to make friends. Hell, he didn’t even want to be there at all.

After sitting through some long and boring meeting in the principal’s office, in which the man talked about _how pleased he was to have Arthur Pendragon at his school_ and how _he was sure that Arthur would fit in and stay out of trouble_ (yeah, right), Arthur was finally ushered into a classroom by his father. He shot his father one last, angry look, but Uther was already striding away, his mind probably firmly focused on work.

Arthur looked around the room. Everybody had their heads bent, talking to their friends in hushed whispers. You wouldn’t get any prizes for guessing who they were talking about; their constant glances up at Arthur were obvious.

There was only one empty seat in the entire room, next to a beanpole of a kid with a mess of black hair and ears that were far too big for his head. The teacher gestured for Arthur to sit there and he did so, dropping into the seat loudly. The boy looked up, fixing Arthur with a look of contempt the likes of which he’d never seen before.

“What did I do to deserve that?” Arthur hissed at him, but the boy said nothing. Instead the teacher, Geoffrey Monmouth, called the class’s attention back to him. “Everyone, I’m sure you’ve all heard about our new student. Everyone, this is Arthur Pendragon.” Arthur refused to look up, instead examining his fingernails for anymore traces of black hair dye. “Arthur, I’d like you to work with Merlin Emrys until you catch up. He’s one of our brightest students, and I’m sure you’ll get along fantastically.” Arthur very much doubted that, and the look on the Merlin kid’s face, a mixture of disgust and despair, backed up exactly what he thought. Like everybody else there, he probably knew exactly who Arthur was and had heard about what Arthur had done at his old school, and hated him for it.

Arthur paid no attention to the teacher during class. Instead he kept looking around the room, almost hoping he’d find a way to escape. Inexplicably, his eyes kept getting drawn back to Merlin. He had no idea what it was, but there was just _something_ about that kid that Arthur didn’t understand but couldn’t keep his mind off of.

Of course, it was just Arthur’s luck that after class was over, he was instructed by Mr Monmouth to go on a tour of the school with Merlin. Merlin agreed politely, but as soon as Monmouth’s back was turned, he made a face, clearly feeling the same as Arthur about the whole situation.

“Don’t think I’m going to treat you all special just because you’re a freaking rich snob,” Merlin said as soon as they were alone.

“Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because I’m supposed to be getting ‘back on the right track,” Arthur retorted, trying to make it obvious in his voice just what he thought of Merlin and this stinking school. “I don’t want to go down that road. And you can’t talk to _me_ like that. I could buy your entire family, if I wanted.”

Something flickered across Merlin’s face that almost made Arthur regret his words, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. “I can talk to you however I want,” Merlin said, his voice not as strong as it had been before. “You’re a thug and a bully, Arthur Pendragon. You think you’re above the rules and _better_ than everybody else just because of your name and your wealth. But here’s a newsflash for you- you’re not. You’re nothing special. You’re just like everybody else. You can’t get away with bloody murder just because of who you are.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Arthur said shortly. There was, truthfully, but he wasn’t going to tell _Merlin_ what exactly what he meant. Merlin looked at him almost curiously, but to Arthur's relief he didn’t probe any further. Just for good measure, though, Arthur added, “I _will_ hurt you, Emrys, if you try to figure it out. Understand?”

“Like I care,” said Merlin dismissively, as he led Arthur across the school grounds.

They were outside, now, and the section of the school Merlin had led Arthur to was practically deserted. Clearly, nobody came here very often, except maybe Merlin himself. Chancing a look around to make sure that no one was approaching, Arthur pulled a cigarette and his lighter out of an inside jacket pocket. “You better not tell anyone,” he warned. “I’d rather lull my father into a false sense of security and make him _think_ I’m trying to be a good son, then get kicked out on my first day.”

Merlin just scoffed at Arthur, looking at him like he was insane to even say that. “Those things will kill you, you know,” he said as Arthur put the cigarette to his lips and lit it. “I don’t care anyway. I have better things to do than to waste my time with a prat like you.” Before Arthur had a chance to reply Merlin was walking away, leaving Arthur feeling angry and yet strangely intrigued by the boy that was Merlin Emrys.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Remember smoking is bad, kiddies :P  
> But seriously, comments and kudos are like my lifeline and motivation <3 I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter!


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